Telford last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Telford is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Telford.

Meaning of Telford

An English habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "hill ford" or "ford by a plank bridge."

Telford, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Telford surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Telford in America

Telford is the 9861st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Telford surname appeared 3,280 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Telford.

We can also compare 2010 data for Telford to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 9861 9594 2.74%
Count 3,280 3,110 5.32%
Proportion per 100k 1.11 1.15 -3.54%

The history of the last name Telford

The surname Telford originated in England, primarily in the county of Shropshire. It is derived from the Old English words "tell" meaning "a hill or high ground" and "ford" meaning "a shallow place for crossing a river or stream." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a ford across a river at the base of a hill.

Telford can be traced back to the 13th century in Shropshire. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Assize Rolls of Shropshire in 1292, which mentions a Richard de Telford. The name is also found in the Hundred Rolls of Shropshire from 1274, which lists a Robertus de Telforde.

The name Telford is closely associated with the town of Telford in Shropshire, which was originally known as "Telforde" in the Domesday Book of 1086. The town likely took its name from the nearby ford across the River Terne, situated on a hill.

Thomas Telford (1757-1834) was a renowned Scottish civil engineer and architect, known for his work on roads, bridges, and canals. Although not directly related to the English surname, his name is closely linked to the town of Telford, which was renamed in his honor in 1968.

Other notable individuals with the surname Telford include:

  1. John Telford (1851-1939), a Scottish-born Australian politician and businessman.
  2. William Telford (1836-1915), a Scottish-born Canadian civil engineer and surveyor.
  3. Robert Telford (1804-1876), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and writer.
  4. Thomas Telford (1772-1857), a British naval officer and explorer.
  5. John Telford (1872-1939), a Scottish-born Australian politician and trade unionist.

While the surname Telford is relatively uncommon, it has a long history in England, particularly in the county of Shropshire, where it originated from the geographical features of a ford across a river at the base of a hill.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Telford

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Telford.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Telford was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 77.68% 2,548
Non-Hispanic Black Only 17.10% 561
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.61% 20
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.37% 12
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.68% 55
Hispanic Origin 2.56% 84

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Telford has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 77.68% 79.23% -1.98%
Black 17.10% 16.53% 3.39%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.61% 0.64% -4.80%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.37% 0.35% 5.56%
Two or More Races 1.68% 1.38% 19.61%
Hispanic 2.56% 1.86% 31.67%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Telford was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Telford, please contact us.

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Telford last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 9, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/telford-surname-popularity/.

"Telford last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/telford-surname-popularity/. Accessed 9 November, 2024

Telford last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/telford-surname-popularity/.

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